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It was triage. I opened a file, found the relevant information, and decided if I needed to review it further. In most cases, the answer was ‘no.’ There was nothing so bad that I would have to dig deeper. The pile of “maybes” grew slowly. The others went back to the filing cabinet. I knew that if the HR people had done their work, the stack needing more work would be short.
By lunch, I was almost halfway through the alphabet. Since I reviewed only current employees, I was moving right along. I would finish in a couple of hours and then start the deep diving. Codrin seemed quite pleased by the progress. That was reassuring. At least he hadn’t lost faith in me. Carrying a large cup of coffee, I returned to my dungeon room and resumed my triage. An hour later, I still yawned. That was when Marcie called.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“It’s Emily,” Marcie said. “She won’t stop crying.”
“What?! What happened?”
“Well, it was the cat again. The cat had a chipmunk to play with. You know how cats are. The chipmunk would get a few feet away, and the cat would pounce, batting the chipmunk around for a few seconds. The cat wouldn’t kill the animal, just torture. The cat might have been in our yard or in the cat-man’s yard. It was close. Anyway, Emily went over and tried to save the chipmunk. I was inside, watching. The cat wouldn’t cooperate, so Emily kicked the cat…hard. That was when cat-man stormed out of his house.”
“Did he yell at her?”
“Yes, but he also called the police.”
“The police?”
“Cruelty to animals is against the law or something. Anyway, they came, and they asked Emily some questions. She got scared because she thought she was going to jail. They left, but she’s been crying ever since. She keeps asking for you.”
Immediately I called Codrin to tell him I was leaving.
Chapter fifteen
Codrinrushedintothehotel lobby. The anger on his face was palpable. I didn’t want a fight, but I wouldn’t cower.
“You can’t leave,” he said.
“I’m leaving,” I answered. “My UBER ride will take me to the airport. I’ll be home in a matter of hours.”
“Listen to me, Jasmine, listen.”
“My mind is made up. My daughter needs me.”
“We need you. I need you. This is a big deal, a really big deal. You have the opportunity to become the HR guru for a large enterprise. Don’t throw that away because your daughter had a bad day.”
“A bad day? A bad day? She was questioned by the police. They scared her half to death. She’s alone with someone she’s known all of one week. Her father is missing in action, and her mother is too. He can’t get home to help and comfort, but I can. And I will.”
“Jasmine, don’t make this bigger than it is. Sure, she’s scared now, but in a day or two, she’ll forget all about it. Or, she’ll brag to her friends about it. You know how kids are.”
“If I were home with her, I might agree with you, but I’m not home. She’s all alone, and she feels abandoned. There are adults who can’t handle that.”
His face soured. Dracula made his appearance.
“If you leave,” he said, “there isn’t much I can do for you. Do you understand? You’re jeopardizing your career.”
“This is a matter of ‘only.’” I am the only parent Emily has. I’m the only one who can make her feel safe. This may be my only chance to prove to her that she means everything to me. I like to think I will have many opportunities to prove my worth to the ‘enterprise.’ If I fail Emily now, I may be nothing but a failure for the rest of my life.”
We stared at each other. I fought the urge to hug him, so I could rest my head on his shoulder. I battled the part of me that wanted him to rescue me.
“My husband is in special forces. He does things he cannot and will not tell me about. When the phone buzzed, he would smile at me. ‘Duty calls’ was all he would say. He knew his duty, and he fulfilled it. I know my duty, and it’s to my daughter. I will go to her. Duty calls.”
“Jasmine…”
I pointed out the door. “That’s my UBER. I’ll be in the office tomorrow or the next day. You can have me fired then.”
I marched out to the sedan and watched the driver load my suitcase. I was going home.
Duty called.
